Thread traverse mechanism



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E. B. HELM THREAD TRAVERSE MEGHANISM Filed March 18, 1938 N El Il..

June 17, 1941. l

Gttomeg June 17,1941. I y E, B HEITM 2,246,465

THREAD TRAVERSE MECHANISM I Filed March 18, 195s 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 will FIE. 5

vPatented June 17, 1941 i :2,246,455 a THREAD 'rnavlinsn MECHANISM Emerson B. Helm, Cleveland, Ohio, assigner to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporationvof Delaware Application March 1s,193s, seriaiN0`.1c6,cs1.

12 Claims.

This invention relates to thread winding apparatus and, more particularly, to improvements in .the traverse mechanism. employed in such thread winding apparatus.,

In winding thread in package form upon a 'collectingspool; difilculty is experienced in so laying the thread upon the package that likelihood of entanglement between thethread` turns is mini- Amired, Suchlentanglement is especially likely to occur in spool packages Vformed in the manufacture ofl artiiicial `silk thread inasmuch as in the'v usualoperation of subjecting the wound packages to the action of processing" liquids, the thread of a given'lturn tends to vWash under or over the thread of another turn. Such an underwind or overwind makes it difficult, if not impossible. to unwind .the thread from the package. Even though an underwind or overwind may not occur as a result of a liquid processing step upon the thread, it is quite possible in the course of unwinding 4thepthread irom'the package that the thread will be pulled from .underneath another turn `and in thismanner will prevent the package from being freely unwound. Y In either event, ,Whether the underwind or overwind occurs during a liquid `processing step or during unwinding of the thread, itis very likely that the thread will be broken.

The occurrence of such underwinds or overwinds has been found to be largely due to the substantial parallelism which exists between the thread (ol. 24e- 43) todeposit the thread `upon the .spool in a locusv exactly the same as that characterizing the guide eye itself. Consequently, at the ,end of each traverse stroke the length oi. thread between the guide eye and the spoolintroduces a thread lag'.

The combined effect of the necessity of permit,- ting the guide eye to, decelerate,.remain'at rest, and accelerate and the impossibility of avoiding a thread lag between the guide eye and the collecting spool is to lay a considerable length of thread in a plane nearly perpendicular to the axis ofthe spool. It hasddseen foundv that nearlythreefourths of a ompleteturn around `the spool is utilized merely to obtain a return in the thread stroke. The presence of these thread turns at the end of the spool about approximately threefourths of the circumference of the spool results in parallelism between the turns and causes the underwinds and overwinds which the present invention overcomes by effecting an abrupt reversal of the movement of the guide eye at the end of each stroke.

turns at the ends of the package. .This Darallelism between the thread turns arises from the necessity of reversing the thread traverse mechanism at Athe end of each traverse stroke. During the time the traverse mechanism is decelerating at theend of the stroke, remaining momentarily at rest, and accelerating, the spool is continuing tol rotate `at` a substantially constanty angular speed, with the resultthat the guide eye in effect remains at restfwhilethe spool is rotating. Because of this relationship, the thread willnot be laid upon the spool so as to form a sharply reversed bend,. but lnsteadjwill be laid upon the ,spool in an approximately Lcircular path. i

Another factorqresponsible for the parallelism which ekists between the thread turns at theends ofthe spool package is. the thread lag between the guide eyeand the spool. In passing from the guide eye tothe spool, thethread necessarily assumes a path tangential to the spool, so that even though the guide eye is placed as close as practicable to the surface of the spool, there will still be present a4 substantial length of thread lbetween them. `This lengthoi thread makes it impossible invention is shown in connection with such a machine, 'itmay be utilized in connection with the windingof thread or thread-like material of practically any character.

In the accompanying drawings, in which are illustrated several modications of the invention, Figure l is an elevation of la portion of a conventional s'pool-spinning machine to which the lnvention is applied.' Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on line 2--2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of a. portion oi the upper part of the apparatus oi Figure 1. lFigure 4 is a sectionon line 4 4 of `Figure 3. Figure 5 is an elevation corresponding to Figure 3 of a modification. Figure 6 is a section on line l-G of Figure 5. Figure 'l is a Section on the line 1-1 of Figure 5. f

Referring'rst to the embodiment of the invention illustratedin Figures 1 vto 4, inclusive, the thread l 0 which is to be collected upon rotating spool Il is formed by extrusion of viscose through spinneret I2 submerged in coagulating bath I3. In a complete spinning machine, a number of spools I I are arranged in parallel relation at intervals along the axis of the machine. For each of the collecting spools, a separate spinneret I2 is provided in the coagulating bath I3. The spools II are mounted upon and are rotatedby shafts I4, all of which are driven from a common longitudinally extending shaft I5. As the packages of Wound threads increase in thickness, change speed mechanism progressively decreases the speed of shafts I4, so that peripheral speed of the outermost layer of thread on the` spools remains constant.

In order to pass the threads back and forth along the collecting spools II, each thread passes through a reciprocating guide eye |6. Guide eye I6 is secured by means of bolt I1 to a carrier .bar |8 which extends longitudinally of the machine and which supports the several guide eyes necessary for the several collecting spools Il. To reciprocate the bar I8 back and forth so that the guide eye I6 will be caused to traverse the length of the collecting spool, it is driven by supporting shaft I9. The shaft I9 passes through a cam box 20 which contains mechanism driven from shaft by which the shaft I9 is caused to reciprocate in the direction of its axis.

In accordance with the invention, a resilient coupling is provided at some suitable point in such apparatus, preferably between reciprocatilng shaft I9 and longitudinally extending bar In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, this resilient coupling is effected by providing the end of shaft I9 with a projecting pin portion 22. Slidably mounted upon the pin portion 22 is an attaching block 23 to which the longitudinal bar I8 is secured. To retain block 23 upon the pin portion 22 a nut 24 may be screw-threaded upon the end of the pin portion. In order that the block 23 may have a limited sliding movement axially of the pin portion 22, it is of less breadth than the space between the shoulders 2| and 2|' provided at opposite ends of pin portion 22 by the enlarged portion of shaft I9 and by nut 24, respectively.

To urge the block 23 to a neutral position on the pin 22 it is acted upon from opposite sides by springs 25 and 26. Spring25 extends from the block 23 to a collar 21 secured upon shaft I9.

By locating the collar 21 a slight distance back from shoulder 2 I, the spring 25 may have a large number of turns so as to increase its resiliency. Spring 26 extends between the bearing block and the head of nut 24. An elongated hub portion 28 extending from shoulder 2| to the head of nut 24 permits spring 26 to have a large number of turns.

Spring 25 should be of the same length and resiliency as spring 26, so that block 23 when in its neutral position will be acted upon -equally from both sides. However, the distance from the collar'21 to shoulder 2| should be less than the distance from the head of nut 24 to shoulder 2|', so that block 23 when in neutral position is independently resiliently mounted.

will be closer to shoulder 2| than to shoulder 2|. For example, lt has been found that the space between the one side of block 23 and shoulder 2| may be 50% greater than the distance length that they will not be under compression when the block is in normal position.

In the operation of the apparatus, the block 23 remains during the intermediate portion of the traverse stroke in a neutral position between springs 25 and 26. As the shaft I9 comes to rest at one extremity of the traverse stroke;l namely, in its most projected position with respect to cam box 20, the attaching blocks 23 tend to slide along pins 22 against the action of spring 26 due to the mass of .bar I8, guide eyes I6, bolts I1 and the several attaching blocks 23. Such movement of the attaching blocks carries the guide eyes I6 with a relatively rapid motion beyond the point they would reach if the axial movement of block 23 was prohibited, so that instead of a rounded bend in the portion of thread laid down at the end of the traverse stroke, the spiral formation of the thread is continued.

Due to compression of spring 26, when the block 23 strikes shoulder 2| it rebounds therefrom and under the influence of spring 26 is immediately thrust away from nut 24. This rapid return of the attaching blocks causes an equally rapid return of the guide eyes I6, so that an abrupt angular turn is formed in the thread. Upon reaching the other limit of the traverse stroke defined by the most retracted position of the shaft I9 with respect to cam box 20, the same rapid' return action of guide eye I6 occurs under the influence of spring 25.

The desirability for the increased space between the block 23 and shoulder 2| as compared with the space between the block and shoulder 2| is apparent from the fact that when shaft I9 is in its most projected position or when block 23 is .farthest from cam box 20, advantage is had of the flexibility of the projecting portion of shaft I9 in supplementing the impositive motion of guide eyes I6 provided by spring 26. However, when the shaft I9 is retracted and block 23 is close to cam box 2|), the projecting portion of shaft I9, being very slight, olers no flexibility the effect of which might be additive to that of- With the differential spacfered by spring 25. ing thus provided it has been found that substantially the same abruptformation of thread occurs at both ends of the spool.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Figures 5, 6 and 7, each of the guide eyes I6 In this modication, the bolt 32, which corresponds to bolt I1 in Figures 1, 2 and 3, is pivotally mounted in the longitudinally extending carrier bar 33. This pivotal mounting may be accomplished by providing a loose iit between bolt .32 and the receiving hole in bar 33. Secured to the portion ofbolt 32 which projects above the bar 33 is an arm 34. A nut 35 clamps arm 34 against a shoulder 36 of bolt 32 and in this manner the bolt 32 remains free to turn within bar 33. If desired,

the arm 34 may fit on a squared portion of bolt v 32 so that relative rotation Will be prevented.

Clamped rigidly in place, as by means of bolt 31, on opposite sides of bar 33 in .proximity to the free end ,of arm 34 are stop pieces 38 and 39. From the inner faces of stop pieces 38 and 39 project hub portions 49 and 4|, respectively. These hubs 40 and 4| serve to mount springs 42 and` 43 and also serve to limit the angular movement of arm 34. To receive the inner ends of springs 42 and 43 the opposite sides of arm 34 between stop 40 and 4| are enlarged and recessed to form spring seats as shown in Figure 7.

It is desirable that spring 32 and snrlng13 lwithdrawn without interference.

be ofthe same length and resiliency so that when in normal position the arm 34 will beequally acted upon from both sides. Hub 4I' should be slightly longer than hub 40 so as to obtain the same effect of diierential spacing as that provided between block 23 and shoulders 2l and 2|' of the arrangement of Figures lrto 4. That is, when the bar 33 is farthest from the cam box 20 and is about to begin its return stroke, the arm 34 will be capable of a relatively small movement toward stop 4I. In contrast to this, when the bar 33 is in its position nearest to the cam box and is about to make a return stroke, the arm 34 may have ay relatively larger motion toward stop 40 in order to oifset the greater rigidity of the parts when in this retracted position.

With the arrangement of Figures 5, 6 and 7, the same abrupt bends at the ends of the traverse strokes are formed as result with the arrangement of Figures 1 to 4. Such abrupt turns do not result in parallelism between the turns at the end of the spool; so that the possibility of an underwind or overwind is minimized. In withdrawing the thread from such a spool little or no diiliculty is experienced, the thread being Substantially the same advantages characterize both embodiy ments of the invention in these important respects.

\ guide eye; actuating means for moving said guide eye in opposite directions in a predetermined normal path; and, disposed between said guide eye and said actuating means, a resilient coupling permitting an impositive movement of said guide eye beyond the limits o f its predetermined normal path, said impositive movement resulting from the inertia of said guide eye.

2. Thread traverse mechanism comprising a plurality of guide eyes; a carrier bar to which said guide eyes are rigidly Aaiiixed; means for reciprocating said carrier bar; and, disposed between said carrier bar and said reciprocating means,` resilient coupling means permitting an impositive movement of said carrier bar additive to the movement of said reciprocating means toward the end of each traverse stroke, said impositive movement resulting from the inertia of said guide eyes and carrier bar.

3. Thread traverseV mechanism comprising a' plurality of guide eyes; a carrierbar supporting said guide eyes in spaced relation; reciprocating means for moving said carrier bar in opposite directions in strokes of fixed length; and, disposed between each of said guide eyes and said carrier bar,an independent resilient coupling permitting an impositive movement of said guide eye additive to the movement of said reciprocating means toward the end of each traverse stroke, said impositive movement resulting from the'inertia of said guide eye, coupling and carrier bar.

4. Thread traverse mechanism comprising a` guide eye; a support for said guide eye; means for reciprocating said support, said reciprocating means imparting to said support a traverse stroke of predetermined characteristics; a pivotal connection between said support and said reciprocating means, said pivotal connection permit- .ting said guide eye to be at least partially rotated about the axis of said support so as to enable it to move in the general direction of said traverse stroke; and, for biasing said guide eye to a neutral position, resilient means cooperating with said pivotal connection in permitting an impositive movementot said guide eye additive to the movement imposed thereon by said reciprocating means toward the end of' each traverse stroke, said impositive movement resulting from the inertia of said guide eye.

5. Thread traverse mechanism comprising a guide eye; a support for said guide eye: means for reciprocating said support, said reciprocating means imparting to said support a traverse stroke of predetermined characteristics; a pivotal connection between said support and said reciprocating means, said pivotal connection permitting said guide eye to be at least partially rotated about the axis of said support so as to enable it to move in the general direction of said traverse stroke; and stop means for limiting the extent of the movement of said guide eye about the axis of said support.

6. Thread traverse mechanism comprising a guide eye; means for reciprocating said guide eye; a resilient coupling including a support for said guide eye disposed between said guide eye and said reciprocating means in a manner permitting an impositive movement of said guide eye and support additive to themovement of said reciprocating means toward the end of each stroke, said impositive movement resulting from the inertia of said guide eye and support; and

stop means limiting the extent of said impositive movement df the guide eye and support.

7. vApparatus as described in claim 6 in which said stop means permits an impositive movement of said guide eye and support of lesser extent on one side of the neutral position than on the other side thereof.

8. Apparatus as described in claim 6 in which said stop means permitsan impositive movement of said guide eye and support o1' greater extent when said reciprocating means is in the most retracted position of its stroke than when in the most projected position thereof.

9. 'Ihread traverse mechanism` comprising a guide eye; means for reciprocating said guide eye; means supporting said guide eye from said reciprocating means: a coupling between said reciprocating means and said supporting means capable of relative sliding motion in the direction of reciprocation; and, cooperating` withv said coupling for biasing the same to a neutral position intermediate the limits of its sliding motion, coil springs which react to the sliding motion imparted to the coupling by the inertia of said guide eye and support so as to permit an impositive movement of said guide eye and support additive to the movement imparted thereto by said reciprocating means toward the end of each traverse stroke.

10. Apparatus as described in claim 9 having stop means for limiting the extent of the impositive movement of said guide eye and support to unequal spans on opposite sides of its neutral Position.

11. Thread traverse mechanism comprising a guide eye; means for reciprocating said guide eye from one extremity to the 'other of a. predetercoupling 'limiting they" 'extent of the nnpgsmv'ef movement of said guide eye and support and per' mined traverse stroke; a support carrying said l mitting movement of lesserl extent on one side v" of the neutral position than" on the other side thereof. Q

12. Apparatus` asldescribed in claimA 11 in Which-saidstop means permits an impositive movement of Vsaid guide eye and support of greater extent when said reciprocating means is in the x'nosty retracted position of its stroke than when in the mostprojected position'thereof. y*

lE. B. HELM. 

